See the thing is, they have no idea how hard it is for me to even get out of bed some days, let alone clean up the mess that is my room. My mom, she’s really nice and understanding, but when it comes to my depression and anxiety, it’s like she doesn’t understand it affects my day-to-day life. I’ve told her before how hard it is to even move some days, but it’s like it goes in one ear and out the other.

See, with my mental illnesses, it makes it incredibly hard to move out of my bed and get stared with my day, and stress with school and friends is all ready a lot for me, let alone worrying about my room.

I’m sure a lot of you don’t live with your parents (I’m in high school still), but if you have the same problem as me, I have some tips I use to motivate me to clean my room and take care of myself:

Do it when you want to do it. That doesn’t mean never do it, but if there’s a little voice in your head telling you to clean up and get out of bed, listen to it

Make cleaning up fun for yourself. Clean up can take a couple hours for me as I get distracted and unmotivated, but I play music to make it fun for myself and I sing along and try to have a good time

Think of the future. If you’re really struggling to get out of bed, think about the long run. Think of how much better you’ll feel when you’re not living in a mess

Start small. Even if it’s just making your bed one day, and picking up clothes the next, that’s still a start and you have to start somewhere.

Finally, ask a friend for help. If you know anyone who you’re comfortable talking with about this (like I have my mom and a couple friends) ask for help. Tell them what’s going on and I’m sure they’d like to help. I know I would if someone asked me.